(Scotland, dialectal, not-comparable, with "of") Free; no longer involved with; quit.
My word, I gie him nae encouragement ! I canna bide the sicht o' him, and wad gie the best gown I hae to be quat o' him." 1838, Chambers's Journal, page 134:
There it is, sir—Im blythe to be quat of it; pitch it from ye furder than I can see. 1861, Mrs. Oliphant, The House on the Moor:
HECH me, but I'm weary, I'm heart-sick and sad ; O' my kinsfolk I've got quite a wamefu', I wush I was quat o' the d — nable squad — Forgi'e me for sweerin' sae shamefu'. 1895, William Stewart, Lilts and Larks Frae Larkie, page 177:
1757, Samuel Foote, The Author, Act II, Scene ii, 1765, The Dramatic Works, Volume 1, page 28,
Mrs. Cad. Well, come, begin and ſtart me, that I may come the ſooner to quatting——Huſh ! here′s Siſter ; what the deuce brought her !
(Scotland, dialectal, transitive) To relinquish, forsake, give up.
'Mang mis'ry's posts, whar I did sit, My tongue took sic a faltrin' fit, I thought the wee remains o' wit I had, was quat me 1813, Hugh Porter, Poetical attempts, page 35:
Ye hae grown proud since ye quatted the begging. — Scottish proverb, said satirically.
They seem to our ears indeed to have "quat their roaring play." 1868, John Wilson, Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2:
(dialectal, intransitive, qualifier:Wales and Southwest England) To squat or crouch down.
Tarka quatted on the ledge ; he knew that Deadlock would follow hiin wherever he swam in water. 1927, Henry William Williamson, Tarka the Otter, Chapter 19:
Tho' B-lt-n, quatted in the hall, Her jolly r-mpfs display'd, The size of it amaz'd them all, and Hector quite dismay'd. 1700, Ta Paidia Tēs Kythereias; Or, King's Place In An Uproar, page 10:
This cows' courant so excited the tinners' curiosity that they went up the hill till they saw the two men wrestling, with the women looking on; then they quatted (stooped) down in a brake of furze to watch the play without being seen. 1870, William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall:
She quatted down next to him and rubbed his shoulder. 2013, R. M. Lienau, The Truchas Light: A Novel, →ISBN, page 155:
“Because quats are positively charged, and skin proteins have a slightly negative charge, quats like to attach themselves to skin,” said Greg Nole, a manager at Unilever, the parent company of Vaseline and Dove. 2009 October 1, Hilary Howard, “New Ways to Moisturize for Less”, in The New York Times: